Toblerone sues British chocolate maker for 'copying' their famous shape

The owner of Toblerone is suing a British chocolate maker for allegedly copying their famous shape. Mondelez International has accused the vegan company Catherine's Originals of 'passing off' and trademark infringement with its O'bar range. The Catherine's Originals O'bar is designed as a traditional rectangular bar of chocolate divided into segments, each with a round semi-oval shape on top. But Mondelez International, owned by Kraft, is now suing the Walberton, West Sussex-based company for infringement, alleging that the shape constitutes passing off of the iconic Toblerone pyramids.Catherine's Originals's flavours include Pumpkin Spice, Halloween Blood Orange, Dark Ginger, It's Cool Mint, Cookie No Crumble Cheesecake, Coconut Coast and Cinnamon Swirl. The vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free chocolate bars start from £9.20 up to £10.55 and according to the company's website, are 'selling out so quickly that many Choco Lovers have missed out'.Catherine Dodd, 24, launched the company with her boyfriend Jamie Miller, 25, in 2021 after the couple, from Horsham, began making vegan sweets.In a video reacting to the lawsuit posted to the company's Facebook page on Thursday, Ms Dodd told fans: 'News has got into the press about our O'bar and obviously it's pretty scary, shocking, uneasy, daunting. Pictured: The iconic mountain peak featured on bars of Toblerone chocolate Pictured: The O'bar, created by West Sussex company Catherine's Originals, which is accused of copying the famous Toblerone shape'It's a lot to process for a company of our size compared to a company like Kraft. 'It's corporate bullying, it's what companies like Kraft are known for doing. They've tried it countless times before. 'It's absurd because their trademark, what they believe using, our O'bar has not one look about it of a triangle, not one look. Not one little bit of it looks like a triangle.'She said 'big giants' attempt to 'bulldoze small companies like Catherine's Originals', adding: 'We stand firmly behind our product. 'We stand firmly behind O'bar and our case, we have an A-star team behind us and we know we're not... breaching trademark rights, we know we are not anything like Toblerone. 'We are not going to be bullied. It's not happening.' And in an earlier blog post on the company's website on Monday, Ms Dodd wrote: 'We strongly disagree with Kraft's claim against us and are working with our A* legal team to defend our position... 'The "O" comes from "Originals". It's part of our little chocolate world, from the Milky O's pralines in our Catherine's Originals Selection Box to our bespoke "O" tin.'The curved, rounded segments, the colourful stripes, the flavours and the stories on the packaging all have my personality in them. I'm proud of what we've created.'Kraft alleges that O'bar infringes the Toblerone trade mark rights and could mislead people to believe there is a commercial connection with Toblerone.'Its claim also includes allegations that O'bar takes unfair advantage of Toblerone's reputation. We, I, dispute those allegations.'Catherine's Originals is an independent business with no commercial affiliation with Toblerone or Mondelez, and we do not believe O'bar infringes the trade mark rights being asserted against it in the slightest.' Ms Dodd added that she will 'fight' the lawsuit. A Mondelez International spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'The iconic Toblerone shape is one of the most recognised and distinctive product designs in the UK and across the world, and has been a hallmark of the brand since 1929. 'We have a responsibility to protect our trademarks and intellectual property, which we take seriously. 'We have attempted to resolve this matter constructively and directly with Catherine's Originals over several months but unfortunately have been unable to reach an agreement. 'We cannot comment further on ongoing legal matters.'The lawsuit comes after Mondelez International fought the launch of Poundland's Twin Peaks bar in 2017, which had two humps of chocolate instead of the famous single peak on Toblerone bars. Poundland was forced to delay the launch but it eventually went ahead after the supermarket chain modified the colour of the package and shape of the chocolate. It can still be bought today. In 2023, Toblerone was forced to change its packaging after production moved outside Switzerland, meaning that to avoid falling foul of marketing rules it had to remove the Matterhorn mountain peak from its packaging.